UNH Today

A UNH initiative addressing unconscious bias in the academic workplace and a suite of patented biosensors that advance quality control in biomanufacturing were at the center of the 2022 and 2023 J. Brent Loy年度创新者奖由 UNHInnovation May 2, 2023.

Two members of UNH’s ADVANCE team — Christine Shea, professor emerita of Paul College, and ADVANCE program coordinator Kate Siler — were honored as the 2022 recipients for their work developing IncludeU®, a groundbreaking, research-backed bystander intervention training platform aimed at improving academic workplace climate through education and awareness of unconscious bias. Jeffrey Halpern, associate professor of chemical engineering, received the 2023 honor for his contributions to biosensing 并在联合国大学培养研究创新文化. The awards were presented on May 2, 2023, during the Research, Economic Engagement and Outreach (REEO) annual 表彰UNH研究人员和永利app新版本官网地址的庆典.

Shea and Siler were recognized for their significant contributions to UNH's mission of research commercialization through the development of IncludeU®, an online course that uses animated scenarios to provide examples of how faculty can intervene when they see bias occurring. 谢伊还发表了永利app新版本官网地址领导力的研究, 领先期刊的创新冠军和旁观者干预, and has held various administrative positions at UNH's 保罗经济与商业学院. Siler has managed UNH's ADVANCE Institutional Transformation and ADVANCE Partnership grant programs. Her work is focused on improving workplace climate and reducing bias incidents through programs that support faculty recruitment, retention, and mentoring. She has also served on several university committees and worked on translating scientific concepts into accessible curriculum and professional development offerings in previous positions.

哈尔彭是五项专利的知名发明家, including two issued and two pending, all related to biosensors. His interdisciplinary approach to sensor development involves surface chemistry, 材料科学与电化学. 除了他在生物传感器方面的工作, Halpern is also recognized for developing a culture of innovation at the university; he has mentored more than 25 undergraduates and summer interns, nine graduate students and two postdoctoral researchers from seven different academic programs. He was recently honored with the Herb Epstein award for Technical Programing from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) in 2022. Halpern的工作得到了各种资助, including from the NIH and NSF, and he currently leads a team designing protein sensors in biomanufacturing settings across four states and building a sepsis sensor on a urinary catheter line.

“创新和研究是我们UNH使命的核心,” says Marc Eichenberger, associate vice president and chief business development and innovation officer, who presented the awards. “这个奖项代表了他们多年来对工作的奉献. Tonight, 我们正在庆祝这些研究工作的成功, but also the overall contributions to their field and the impact on not only UNH and the academic community, but the greater public good.”

年度创新者奖是REEO年度大奖的一部分 表彰UNH研究人员和永利app新版本官网地址的庆典  谁获得了外部荣誉. At the event, Jenna Matheny, uninnovation的技术转移主管, 主持了一个讨论UNH创新影响的小组讨论.

The J. Brent Loy年度创新者奖 honors the late Loy, a distinguished professor emeritus and longtime NH Agricultural Experiment Station researcher. Loy's research on cucurbit varieties is a core part of UNH's intellectual property portfolio and was a driving factor in the development of UNH’s technology transfer program.

UNHInnovation provides resources and support for the university’s research and innovation work, 包括知识产权保护和商业化.